Once Upon a Time in Jellystone Park
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: My take on how Yogi and Boo Boo met


* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is just my idea of how Yogi and Boo-Boo met. Nothing really spectacular, just a short, little fluffy piece. Yogi, Cindy, Boo-Boo, and Ranger Smith belong to Hanna-Barbera. Robyn Olsen, and the park bears Yogi encounters are mine._

* * *

It was a beautiful spring day in Jellystone Park. Yogi Bear was walking around, mingling with the birds and the butterflies, and inching closer and closer to the picnic area.

"And what have we here?" he asked. "Looks like a lone picanic basket!

Yogi reached out to grab the picnic basket, but someone slapped his hand with a flyswatter. That someone was Ranger Smith.

"Don't even think about it, Yogi," he said.

"Mr. Ranger, sir," Yogi said, rubbing his sore hand. Then he tipped his hat. "Good to see you. And how are you on this fine spring morning?"

"Never mind, Yogi," Ranger Smith said. "You keep away from the picnic are. And that's an order!"

"Yes sir," Yogi said, saluting. "I read you loud and clear sir!"

And with that, Yogi ran back to his cave. Ranger Smith sighed, and walked off.

The next morning, Yogi woke up, yawned, and stretched. He walked over to his cave door, opened it, and found a picnic basket right there.

"Hey, hey, hee, hee," he said. "What's this I see? A picanic basket right here at my front door. This must be my lucky day!"

Yogi picked up the basket and found it to be pretty darn heavy. He licked his lips hungrily.

"Oh boy, oh boy," he said. "A heavy picanic basket! That can only mean that it's just chock full of dee-licious goodies! Yummy, yum, yummy! Now let's just take a peek and see what we have . . . ."

Yogi moved the blanket from the basket. But there weren't any goodies in it. Instead, he found a little baby bear cub. The cub giggled and gurgled. Then, he grabbed hold of Yogi's nose, and squeezed it. In true cartoon fashion, the sound of a horn honking was heard as the cub squeezed.

"Uh oh," Yogi said. "You're not a picanic basket of dee-licious goodies. You're a picanic basket of a baby bear! Hoo boy. I think somebody here made a boo-boo."

"Boo-boo," the baby bear repeated. "Boo-boo, boo-boo, boo-boo!"

"You like that word, don't you?" Yogi said. "Well, little cubby type bear, ol' Uncle Yogi is gonna find your mommy."

"Boo-boo," the little cub gurgled.

Yogi took the basket, and began walking around, hoping Ranger Smith wouldn't think that he stole the picnic basket. He came up to a cave, and knocked on the door. A big, gruff bear answered.

"Yeh?" he asked.

"And a good morning to you, sir," Yogi said, tipping his hat to the bear. "Is the lady of the cave t'home?"

"There ain't no lady here," the bear said. "Only my wife. Yo, Gertrude! Someone's here!"

A fat, ugly female bear wearing an apron and curlers.

"Well, whattaya want, tubby?" she asked.

"Pardon me, madam," Yogi said, tipping his hat again. "But could this be yours?"

"Boo-boo," the baby bear said.

"Not mine," the fat lady bear said. "I don't like kids. Now get outta here!"

And with that, the door slammed in Yogi's face.

"Shee, what a grouch!" he shouted. "But don't worry, little guy. Ol' Uncle Yogi will find your mommy."

Yogi spent nearly all morning going around the park, but he couldn't find the baby bear's mother. He even checked the basket for a note or something, but there wasn't anything in there. After he checked with all the bears, and being unable to find the cub's mother, he sat down on a rock.

"Well, little fella, I don't know what I'm gonna do now," he said. "Not one bear in this park is your mommy."

"Hello, Yogi," a female-type voice coyly sang coming over.

"Shee! As if this couldn't get worse," Yogi said. "All I need now is a visit from Cindy Bear!"

"What are you doing, Yogi?" Cindy asked, as she sat down on a rock next to Yogi's. Then she saw the basket. "Are you stealing picnic baskets again?"

"No, Cindy," Yogi said, moving the blanket from the basket. "What I have hear is a little abandoned baby-type cubby bear. I'm trying to find his mother. I found the basket on my doorstep this morning."

"Oh, the poor little thing," Cindy said. She took the baby bear out of the basket, and cradled him. "What's his name?"

"I don't know," Yogi said, shrugging. "There's no note, or tag, or nothing. Let me tell you something, Cindy, if he was left by Mr. Stork, then Mr. Stork certainly made a boo-boo!"

"Boo-boo!" the baby bear giggled. "Boo-boo, boo-boo, boo-boo, boo-boo!"

"He likes saying boo-boo," Yogi said, shrugging. "I think I'm gonna call him Boo-Boo. He likes the word so much."

"Oh Yogi!" Cindy said with a laugh.

"Waaaaaahhhhhh!" Boo-Boo suddenly wailed. Cindy began rocking him a little, but that didn't stop Boo-Boo's crying.

"What's the matter, little Boo-Boo?" she asked. "Oh, you want your Uncle Yogi. Here, Uncle Yogi."

"Gee, thanks a heap, Cindy," Yogi said, sarcastically. But he took Boo-Boo anyway. Boo-Boo whimpered a bit, and continued to cry.

"What do I know about babies?" Yogi said.

"Well, Yogi, if you were a baby, what would you want if you were crying?" Cindy asked.

"Well, let's see," Yogi said. "Maybe he's hungry. Come to think of it, _I'm_ hungry myself! Come on, Boo-Boo, let's go to the picanic area, and see if we can find some food."

And with that, Yogi put Boo-Boo back in his basket, and walked towards the picnic area. There were several picnickers there, and Yogi figured he'd just take his pick of the picnic baskets there. He came up to a woman spreading a red and white checked blanket on the ground, and taking things out of her picnic basket. And did she ever have a spread! She had several deli meats and cheese for sandwiches, jars of mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, pickles, peanut butter, and jelly, white, rye, and whole wheat bread, three bags of potato chips, apples, bananas, oranges, pears, and a big bunch of grapes, carrot and celery sticks, watermelon slices, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge brownies, and a big thermos of lemonade. Yogi licked his lips hungrily.

"Now that's what I call a picanic!" he shouted. "But the poor lady is gonna get sick, sick, sick, If she eats all that food. I'll just go over there, and take some off her hands."

Yogi put Boo-Boo's basket down, and snuck over to the woman. She saw him sneak up to her spread, and screamed.

"EEEEEEEK!" she shouted. "A bear! Help! A bear! A big, ferocious bear!"

The woman jumped to her feet, and began running.

"Oh someone help me!" she screamed. "I'm being attacked by a bear!"

"Well, as long as she's leaving," Yogi said. "I'll just help myself to some of these goodies here."

Yogi took some of the goodies, and ran back to Boo-Boo's basket.

"Here you go, Boo-Boo," he said. "One salami sandwich on rye, hold the mayo."

But Boo-Boo didn't want a salami sandwich. Yogi tried some of the other food, but Boo-Boo didn't like any of it. He just cried.

"Yogi, Boo-Boo is a baby!" Cindy shouted. "He wants milk!"

"Milk?" Yogi asked.

"In a bottle," Cindy went on. "He's too little to eat sandwiches and cookies and things like that!"

"Hmm, where am I going to get a bottle of milk?" Yogi asked. Then he thought of something. "Ah ha! That's it! The mobile campers and recreational vehicles! I saw a couple of them over there with babies, and of course baby bottles! I'm sure they won't mind if I borrow a couple!"

And with that, Yogi raced off to the RV's and mobile homes. No one was around, so he sneaked into the refrigerators, and swiped a couple of bottles of milk. Then he ran back to Boo-Boo, and gave him the bottle. Boo-Boo happily sucked on it. When he was finished, he yawned, snuggled into Yogi's arm, and gurgled happily.

"Well, little fella," Yogi said. "Looks like you'll have to stay with Uncle Yogi until we can find your mommy."

Little Boo-Boo giggled, and snuggled into Yogi. Then he yawned, and went to sleep.

"Yo-yo," he said.

"Awww," Yogi said. "What the heck? Forget finding your mommy. You can stay right here with your ol' pal, Uncle Yo-yo. I mean Yogi."

While all that was going on, Ranger Smith was starting to get phone call after phone call after phone call from upset mothers, claiming somebody stole all their baby bottles.

"You think it might be Yogi, chief?" one of the other rangers asked.

"It can't be," Ranger Smith said. "It's not his MO. Yogi steals picnic baskets. Not baby bottles. I can't imagine what Yogi would want with baby bottles full of milk!"

"Maybe he has a baby. Maybe he's a mother."

Ranger Smith gave the other ranger a weird look. That was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard in his life. In anycase, he went out to investigate this. As he was driving his jeep around, he happened to spot Yogi leaving an RV with a baby bottle in one hand, and a picnic basket in the other.

"What the . . . ." he said. "Yogi!"

"Mr. Ranger, sir!" Yogi shouted. "How are you today?"

"Never mind, Yogi," Ranger Smith said. "You know the park rules. Do not feed the bears. Now I want you to put that basket back where you found it!"

"That's going to be a little difficult, sir," Yogi said. "You see I found this picanic basket in front of my cave."

"A likely story. I want you to put that basket back this instant!"

"Please don't shout, sir. But I really did find this basket in front of my cave. And as for the baby bottles, well . . . ."

"I don't want to hear any of your famous excuses Yogi! I'm going to give you until the count of three to put that basket back where you got it! One! Two!"

But before Ranger Smith could get to three, a loud cry came from the basket Yogi was holding.

"Waaaaaahhhhhh!"

"What the . . . ." Ranger Smith said.

"Now you've gone and done it," Yogi said. "You woke up Boo-Boo."

"Boo-Boo?" Ranger Smith asked. He watched as Yogi put the basket on the ground, and took the little baby bear cub out of it.

"It's okay, little buddy," he said. "That big, bad, mean old ranger didn't mean to disturb your nap."

"Yogi, that's . . . . it's . . . . . he's . . . ." Ranger Smith stammered, not quite sure what to think of _this. _"Have you been fooling around with Cindy, Yogi?"

"Mr. Ranger! I'm shocked you even mentioned it!" Yogi shouted. "What kind of animal do you think I am?!"

"I know a rhetorical question when I hear it. But where did this cub come from?"

"Shee, you'd think he oughta know this by now! See, Mr. Ranger, sir, first a Mommy Bear and a Daddy meet, and they fall in love . . . ."

"No, no, no, Yogi! That's not what I meant! Where did you get him?"

"Mr. Stork made a bit of a boo-boo and left this little baby cubby type bear in front of my cave. No note, no nothing. I've sort of grown attached to the little guy. He sorta grows on ya."

"That would explain the missing baby bottles," Ranger Smith said.

"Aww, come on, little fella," Yogi said, and he began rocking Boo-Boo. "Rock-a-bye Boo-Boo in Yogi's care, please go to sleep like a good little bear . . . ."

"Waaaaahhhh!" Boo-Boo cried. Yogi tried to give him the bottle, but Boo-Boo kept right on crying.

"You can tell I have no experience with baby bears, sir," Yogi said. "How do you get them to stop crying?!"

"Let me have him for a minute, Yogi," Ranger Smith said, taking the cub from Yogi. "I think I might know what's wrong."

Ranger Smith put Boo-Boo over his shoulder and patted his back. Boo-Boo stopped crying for a moment or so.

"Burp," was his next contribution to the conversation. Then he sighed contentedly and snuggled against Ranger Smith's shoulder.

"Atta boy," Ranger Smith said.

"How did you do that?" Yogi asked.

"Just a little trick I've picked up from baby-sitting my sister's kids," Ranger Smith said. "I'm practically an expert."

"Well, thanks for the helping hand, sir. Now I'll just take him back now."

"Wait a minute, Yogi. We've got to locate his mother."

"I checked all over the park, sir. But I can't find Boo-Boo's mom anywhere!"

"Then I'm going to have to make some phone calls. We have to find out where this bear belongs."

"I'll tell you where he belongs, Mr. Ranger! With me! I'm his Uncle Yo-yo!"

"Yo-yo?"

"Errr, Yogi. I mean, come on! The kid adores me!"

"You said so yourself you have no experience with baby bears. How do you expect to take care of him?"

"I've been doing okay so far."

"I'm sorry, Yogi. This _would_ probably keep you away from the picnic baskets, but I just can't. Until I can find his mother, I'm going to take care of him."

And with that, Ranger Smith started walking back to the ranger station. Little Boo-Boo looked over the ranger's shoulder and saw Yogi standing there, and not following. Boo-Boo whimpered a little, and that built up to a full scale scream.

"Waaaahhhhh!" he cried, reaching out for Yogi. "Yo-yo! Waaaahhhhh!"

"I know, I know," Ranger Smith said. "I know you want Yogi. But we just have to wait and see what happens."

"Yo-yo," Boo-Boo whimpered pitifully. Ranger Smith felt bad, but he didn't have much of a choice.

"So long, little bear type buddy," Yogi said, sniffling a little. "I mean . . . . I knew I couldn't keep him. Besides, little kid like that would just cramp my style."

And with that, Yogi trudged back to his cave.

Meanwhile, Ranger Smith was making phone call after phone call, but he not one single person in Jellystone Park, or the surrounding area knew anything about Boo-Boo.

"Well, I don't know what I'm going to do now," he said, picking up Boo-Boo. "I can't find your mother. Why anyone would leave a cute little fella like you on someone's doorstep is beyond me."

"Yo-yo," Boo-Boo whimpered. "Yo-yo! Waaaahhhhhh!"

"I know, I know," Ranger Smith said, positioning Boo-Boo over his shoulder, and rubbing his back. "You want to go back to Yogi. I'll tell you what. If you're a good little bear, I'll take you to see Yogi tomorrow. Now come on, stop crying."

Boo-Boo sniffled, and stopped crying.

"Atta boy," Ranger Smith said. "That's better."

Boo-Boo gurgled, took Ranger Smith's hat, and put it on his own head. Ranger Smith just laughed. Boo-Boo was such a good little bear. How could anyone just up and leave him like that? A few minutes later, a woman ranger with long strawberry blond hair and freckles came into the office. Her name was Robyn Olsen, and she had a bit of a crush on Ranger Smith.

"You sent for me, sir?" she asked.

"Yes, Robyn," Ranger Smith said. "I need you to do something for me. We've got ourselves an abandoned bear cub and . . . ."

"Oh the poor little thing!" Robyn shouted, taking Boo-Boo from Ranger Smith. Then she began tickling him. Boo-Boo giggled and gurgled. "Oh, you are just a little cutie pie! You are the cutest baby bear I've ever seen! Yes you are! Yes, you're just the sweetest wittle baby! Yes you are!"

"Uhh, Robyn," Ranger Smith said. "Can we focus here?"

"Sorry, sir," Robyn said, blushing a little. She hoped she hadn't looked _too_ stupid in front of Ranger Smith.

"I need to call the commissioner. Would you mind keeping an eye on Boo-Boo for a little bit? I won't be long."

"Oh, I wouldn't mind, sir. I love baby animals."

Ranger Smith nodded, and Robyn left the office with Boo-Boo for some sunshine.

Later, Ranger Smith came out of his office, and saw Robyn playing with Boo-Boo. Yogi had been right about one thing. The little cub _did_ grow on you! Boo-Boo saw the Ranger Smith coming, smiled and lifted his arms up to him to be picked up, babbling in baby talk.

"He likes you," Robyn said.

"He likes Yogi better," Ranger Smith said, picking up the cub.

"So what did the comish say?"

"If we can't find his mother, we're going to have to send Boo-Boo to a wildlife preserve. But I don't know, Robyn. I thought maybe I'd put him in with Yogi. He's crazy about Yogi, and it might just keep him away from the picnic area."

"I like the idea, sir. I'm just as nuts about this little cutie as you and Yogi are, but it's the commissioner's rules."

"Not if I can help it," Yogi, who had been listening in at the window. He had an idea. He just needed Cindy's help. He ran to go find her. When he got to her cave, he told her his idea.

"You want me to do _what?!_" she shouted.

"Please, Cindy!" Yogi begged. "You don't want little Boo-Boo to end up in some kinda wildlife reservation, do you?"

"I suppose not. But I don't know if this will work."

"I'm beggin' ya, Cindy! Please! If you help me, I'll do anything! Anything! Just name it!"

"Anything?"

"Yes! Anything!"

"All right then, Yogi. I'll help. But we've got a lot of work to do."

Yogi then followed Cindy into her cave, and the two bears got to work with Yogi's plan.

The next morning, Ranger Smith and Robyn were sitting in Ranger Smith's office, playing with Boo-Boo when the commissioner arrived. Both rangers snapped to attention, and saluted.

"Morning, Smith," he said. "Olsen. So this is that little orphaned bear cub, eh?"

"Yes sir," Ranger Smith said. "I know your rules are any orphaned cub is sent to a wildlife reserve, but I was wondering . . . ."

"Were you able to find the mother, Smith?"

"No, sir, but Yogi Bear found the cub at his cave door, and they've grown attached to each other. I thought it would be a good way to keep Yogi away from the picnic area, so he wouldn't swipe anymore picnic baskets."

"Yogi Bear taking care of a cub? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard!"

"Commissioner, if I may," Robyn said. Then she cleared her throat. "We'd hate to see this little bear go to a wildlife reserve. We've _all_ gotten attached to him."

"Rules are rules, Olsen," the commissioner said. "And unless you can find the mother of this cub, I'm afraid he'll have to go to a reserve."

"My baby!" a high-pitched voice shouted just as the door flung open. In came an extremely homely lady bear wearing a blue dress. She had red hair, and was wearing red lipstick. Ranger Smith and Robyn stared at her oddly.

"Yo-yo!" little Boo-Boo gurgled, happily.

"What in the world _is_ this?!" the commissioner shouted, staring at the lady bear oddly.

"I'm this itty bitty baby-type bear's mommy," the lady bear said, picking up Boo-Boo. "You can call me Mrs. Bear. I've been so worried about my itty bitty little Boo-Boo!"

"Yo-yo!" Boo-Boo gurgled.

"Yo-yo?" Ranger Smith asked.

"Just baby talk," Mrs. Bear said quickly. "Oh, I could just kick myself for leaving him alone! I turn my back for two minutes, and poof! He was gone! He wandered off. He was a bad little bear for worrying a poor mother type bear!"

"Mother type bear?" Ranger Smith repeated. "There's something strangely familiar about this Mrs. Bear."

"Oh thank you, kind, sweet, dear, wonderful park ranger type person!" Mrs. Bear shouted, grabbing Ranger Smith by the shoulders and giving him a big, wet smooch on the lips. "Thank you for finding my itty bitty little Boo-Boo!"

"Uhhh, you're welcome," Ranger Smith said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Yeecchhh!"

"So you're the cub's mother, eh?" the commissioner said. "Well. This changes everything."

"So you're not going to send Boo-Boo to a wildlife reserve?" Ranger Smith asked.

"Not since his mother's here," the commissioner said. "Good day, Smith. Olsen. Mrs. Bear."

And with that, the commissioner left. Once he was gone, Ranger Smith came up to Mrs. Bear and pulled her right off her head. It wasn't hair at all. It was a wig. Underneath the wig was a green hat.

"Yogi!" he shouted.

Yes, "Mrs. Bear" was indeed none other than Jellystone's Smarter Than the Average Bear. He had borrowed the dress, wig, and make-up from Cindy to disguise himself as Boo-Boo's mother. He knew he'd be able to get away with it, because the park commissioner had a short term memory.

"I'm sorry, Ranger Smith," Yogi said. "But I had to do it. I couldn't let them send my little bear type buddy to a wildlife reserve! Please let me keep him, Mr. Ranger, sir! Pretty please! With sugar and chocolate fudge and chopped nuts and marshmallows and whipped cream and sprinkles and a cherry on top! I promise I'll take good care of him, and feed him and everything! Please, please, please, please! Pretty, pretty, pretty please, please, please!"

"Yogi, settle down!" Ranger Smith shouted.

"Yeah, I'm getting hungry," Robyn said.

"You can keep Boo-Boo," Ranger Smith said. "But remember, you're responsible for him."

"Yes sir!" Yogi shouted. "I promise, sir! I'll be a good mother type to Boo-Boo!"

"Yeah, that's fine, Yogi," Ranger Smith said. "Just do me one more small favor."

"You name it sir."

"Take off that dress."

"All right, but I find it fair to warn you and the lady ranger, sir. I'm not wearing anything underneath!"

And with that, Yogi took Boo-Boo into the woods and back to his cave.

"What am I going to do with that bear?" Ranger Smith sighed. Robyn just giggled.

In the meantime, Yogi had taken off the dress and the make-up, and was returning the dress and the wig to Cindy. She was waiting for him outside of her cave.

"How did it go, Yogi?" Cindy asked.

"It worked like a charm!" Yogi shouted. "And naturally, I knew it would. After all, I'm smarter than the average bear! And now, I get to keep little Boo-Boo!"

"Oh that's wonderful, Yogi!" Cindy shouted. "Now, about our deal. You said you'd do anything if I helped you. Now, pucker up."

"Uh oh. Uhh, Cindy, please, not in front of the kid! YIKES!"

And with that, Yogi took off running. Cindy chased after him.

"Yooogiiiiiii!" she shouted, frustratedly.

In the end, Cindy caught up with Yogi, and got her kiss. She didn't really care if Yogi liked it or not. After she got her kiss, she went back to her cave.

"Women," Yogi grumbled. "Shee!"

Time passed. An entire year went by, and Boo-Boo was still living with Yogi. Yogi was throwing him a little birthday party. Cindy, Ranger Smith, and Robyn were there. Robyn had baked the birthday cake, and she brought it out to the picnic table and everyone sang.

_Happy birthday to you_

_Happy birthday to you_

_Happy birthday, dear Boo-Boo_

_Happy birthday to you_

Yogi helped Boo-Boo blow out the candle on the birthday cake, and everyone cheered.

"That's my little bear type buddy!" Yogi shouted, pulling a box out from behind his back. "And look at what I got especially for you, Boo-Boo."

Yogi opened box and showed what was inside it to Boo-Boo. It was a little purple bow tie. Boo-Boo clapped, and Yogi tied it around Boo-Boo's neck, tight enough so it wouldn't fall off, but loose enough so it wouldn't choke the little bear.

"Oh, isn't that sweet?" Cindy asked.

"Smile, Boo-Boo," Ranger Smith said, picking up his camera. He snapped a couple of pictures. Then Yogi sat down, and put Boo-Boo on his lap.

"This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship," he said, as Ranger Smith snapped a picture of the two of them.

The End


End file.
